MRU Prof Given Inaugural Graphic Design Teaching Award

Radzikowska, a founding member of the university’s information design program, is one of two teachers receiving RGD’s 2018 Design Educators Award, which recognizes “outstanding contributions to student development and pedagogical research.”

In a news release, Saskia van Kampen, chair of the RGD’s education committee, said the award “reflects the dedication that Canadian design faculty have for the success of their students, as well as for the success of their institute, their personal practice, and in bolstering the design community as a whole.”

“I’m absolutely thrilled. This is such an honour—I have a profound respect for the RGD and the work they do on behalf of Canadian design, designers, and design educators.” said Radzikowska.

Radzikowska’s award nomination describes her as “the kind of person who won’t let a problem beat her,” preparing students who are confident, competent and able to understand the “social, technical and material conditions” that produce graphic design objects.

Radzikowska joined Mount Royal University in 2003, following a career in Canada’s then nascent interactive television industry. The author or co-author of three books, as well as over 85 presentations and articles, she has focused her research on visualizing big data, design philosophy and how other disciplines can use that philosophy in their own work.

This focus on philosophy and interdisciplinary work has made Radzikowska, who has a master’s degree in design, as well as a PhD from the University of Alberta, a Canadian thought leader in the area.

The RGD’s Design Educators Award will be presented at DesignThinkers in Toronto in 2018 and at DesignThinkers in Vancouver in 2019.

I live and work

on the ancestral and traditional Indigenous territories of the Blackfoot and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuu T’ina and the Stoney Nakoda First Nations. The City of Calgary is also home to the Metis Nation of Alberta, Region III.